The Messi–Ronaldo rivalry is a sporting competition in football encouraged by the media and fans that involves footballers Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, chiefly for being contemporaries and for their alike records and sporting success. [ 1 ] in concert they have achieved versatile diachronic milestones in the sport, coming to be considered as two of the best players of all time. [ 2 ] They are two of the most decorate footballers ever, having won a compound 69 trophies ( Messi 35, Ronaldo 34 ) [ 3 ] during their senior careers thus far, and have regularly broken the 50-goal barrier in a one season. They are amongst the eight players to score over 700 goals each in their careers for club and area. Ronaldo holds the global read for most official goals in a career. [ 4 ]
Reading: Messi–Ronaldo rivalry – Wikipedia
Journalists and pundits regularly argue the individual merits of both players in an undertake to establish who they believe is the best player in mod football or always. Regardless of predilection, football critics broadly agree that they are both the best players of their generation, outnumbering their peers by a significant margin. Ronaldo has received praise for his physical attributes, goalscoring skills, leadership and performance under imperativeness, while Messi is lauded for his combination of dribble, playmaking, passing and goalscoring. [ 6 ] It has been compared to past global sports rivalries such as the Muhammad Ali – Joe Frazier competition in box, the Roger Federer–Rafael Nadal competition and the Björn Borg–John McEnroe competition in tennis, and the Alain Prost–Ayrton Senna competition in Formula One centrifugal race. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ] Some commentators choose to analyse the differing physiques and playing styles of the two, [ 10 ] while separate of the debate revolves around the contrasting personalities of the two players ; Ronaldo is sometimes described as person of temperamental character while Messi is considered to have a more reserved character. [ 11 ] At cabaret level, Messi and Ronaldo represented rivals FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF for about a ten. The two players faced each other at least twice every season in the universe ‘s most democratic regular-season golf club game, El Clásico ( among the most-viewed annual sporting events ), from Ronaldo ‘s arrival at Madrid in 2009 until his transfer to italian club Juventus F.C. in 2018. [ 12 ] [ 13 ] Off the field, they are besides the face of two rival sportswear manufacturers, Messi of Adidas and Ronaldo of Nike, which are besides the kit suppliers of their national teams and the opposite for their clubs. [ 14 ] [ 15 ] The two highest-paid players in football, Messi and Ronaldo are among the world ‘s best-paid sports stars in blend income from salaries, bonuses and off-field earnings. In 2021, Ronaldo topped Messi on the Forbes ‘ list of highest-paid footballers, earning US $ 125 million, with Messi adjacent on the tilt at US $ 110 million. [ 16 ] Ronaldo is the most-followed person on social media sites Facebook and Instagram .
history
In 2007, Ronaldo and Messi finished as runner-up to A.C. Milan ‘s Kaká in both the Ballon d’Or, an award rewarded to the actor voted as the best in the world by an international jury of sports journalists ; and the FIFA World Player of the Year, an award voted for by coaches and captains of international teams. In an consultation that year, Messi was quoted as saying that “ Cristiano Ronaldo is an extraordinary player and it would be bright to be in the lapp team as him. ” [ 17 ] [ 18 ] They foremost played in a crippled against each other when Manchester United were drawn to play Barcelona in the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League semi-finals and were immediately pitted as major rivals. [ 19 ] [ 20 ] [ 21 ] Ronaldo missed a punishment in the first gear leg, [ 22 ] but United finally advanced to the concluding via a Paul Scholes finish. [ 23 ] At the end of the year, Ronaldo was awarded the Ballon d’Or and vowed that he would win the award again. [ 24 ] [ 25 ] The 2009 UEFA Champions League Final was contested between Manchester United and Barcelona on 27 May 2009 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. The couple, described as a “ dream clang ”, [ 26 ] was again hyped as the latest struggle between the two, this time to settle who was the best musician in the world ; [ 27 ] [ 28 ] Ronaldo claimed he was the better of the two, [ 29 ] while Messi ‘s club-mate Xavi sided with him. [ 30 ] Manchester United director Alex Ferguson was more diplomatic, praising both players as being amongst the worldly concern ‘s elite talents. [ 31 ] [ 32 ] Messi, playing in a central function he was unaccustomed to so he would avoid a address conflict with Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra, [ 33 ] scored Barcelona ‘s second in a 2–0 victory with a header in the seventieth moment. [ 34 ] meanwhile, Ronaldo was subdued for much of the game, despite some early chances to score, and his frustration finally showed when he was booked for a rash tackle on Carles Puyol. [ 35 ] [ 36 ] From 2009 to 2018, the two played against each other at least twice per temper during El Clásico matches but besides met many other times competitions such as the Copa del Rey, the Supercopa de España, and, a two-legged Champions League semifinal in 2011. Messi won four straight Ballon d’Or awards ( 2009 to 2012 ), with a fifth coming in 2015, while Ronaldo had equalled Messi ‘s total of five with wins in 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017. In 2019, Messi took the lead again by earning his sixth Ballon d’Or, finishing precisely seven points ahead of second-placed Virgil van Dijk, with Ronaldo finishing third. In entire, Messi and Ronaldo reached the dais a record twelve times each. Messi won two Champions League while Ronaldo was playing for Real Madrid, with the latter securing four out of five titles between 2014 and 2018. Messi during this period won five Pichichi trophies and european Golden Shoe awards ( 2010, 2012, 2013, 2017 and 2018 ), while Ronaldo won these prizes four times each ( 2008, 2011, 2014 and 2015 ). From 2009 to 2018, Ronaldo was the Champions League top scorer on six occasions, with Messi achieving this feat four times ( including in 2015 when the pair finished joint-top ) .
relationship between Messi and Ronaldo
In a 2016 interview, Ronaldo commented on the competition by saying : “ I think we push each other sometimes in the competition, this is why the contest is so gamey. ” [ 37 ] Alex Ferguson, Ronaldo ‘s director during his prison term at Manchester United, opined : “ I do n’t think the competition against each early bothers them. I think they have their own personal pride in terms of wanting to be the best. ” [ 38 ] Messi has denied any competition, and blames the media for creating it, stating that “ only the media, the press, who wants us to be at loggerheads but I ‘ve never fought with Cristiano. ” [ 39 ]
It is widely argued and documented that there is an atmosphere of rival between the duet, with Guillem Balagué claiming in the book Ronaldo that he refers to his Argentine counterpart as a “ asshole “ behind his back, [ 40 ] [ 41 ] and Luca Caioli saying in his koran Ronaldo: The Obsession for Perfection that, according to his sources, Ronaldo heats up when watching Messi play. [ 42 ] In response to claims that he and Messi do not get on well on a personal floor, Ronaldo commented : “ We do n’t have a relationship outside the world of football, just as we do n’t with a fortune of other players ”, before adding that in years to come he hopes they can laugh about it together, stating : “ We have to look on this competition with a positivist spirit, because it ‘s a good thing. ” [ 43 ] On 13 November 2014, Ronaldo besides threatened to take legal action over the remarks made by Balagué. [ 44 ] After Ronaldo ‘s deviation from real Madrid to Juventus, Messi admitted to missing him, saying : “ I miss Cristiano. Although it was a bite unmanageable to see him win trophies, he gave La Liga prestige. ” [ 45 ] During a joint interview at the UEFA Player of the Year ceremony in 2019, Ronaldo said he would like to “ have dinner together in the future ”, to which Messi late replied : “ If I get an invitation, why not ? ” [ 46 ]
Awards and records
Throughout the being of the competition, the pair have dominated awards ceremonies and broken a multitude of goalscoring records for both club and country, feats which have been described as “ incredible ”, “ pathetic ” and “ noteworthy ”. [ 47 ] [ 48 ] [ 49 ] The competition itself has been described as one about records and repute of the players, rather than one based in loathing. [ 50 ] [ 51 ] Messi is the all-time La Liga peak scorekeeper, arsenic well as having the most assists in the competition ‘s history – with Ronaldo in second for goals scored and in third for assists provided – while Ronaldo is the UEFA Champions League all-time top goalscorer and assist supplier, with Messi in second for both goals scored and assists provided in the competition ‘s history. The two had broken each other ‘s record over the course of 2015 after Messi surpassed the former record holder Raúl in November 2014. [ 52 ] Ronaldo opened a opening in the 2015–16 season when he became the beginning player to score double figures in the group stage of the Champions League, setting the record at 11 goals. [ 53 ] They are the first base two players to score 100 goals in UEFA Champions League history. [ 54 ] They dominated the Ballon d’Or / The Best FIFA Men ‘s Player awards since 2008, and UEFA Men ‘s Player of the Year Award since 2014 ; in 2018, their roughly decade-long victory was ended by Luka Modrić, seen as “ the end of an era ”. [ 55 ] [ 56 ] [ 57 ] In an interview for the France Football, Modrić stated that “ history will say that a Croatian musician, representing his small country, won the Ballon d’Or after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who are players at another horizontal surface. cipher has the right to compare themselves to them. ” Since 2008, Messi has won seven Ballons d’Or to Ronaldo ‘s five, [ 58 ] six FIFA World ‘s Best Player awards to Ronaldo ‘s five, and six european Golden Shoes to Ronaldo ‘s four. [ 59 ] jointly, Messi has won a cabaret record 35 major trophies as a Barcelona player, including ten league titles, four Champions Leagues, seven Copa del Rey titles, eight spanish Super Cups, three european Super Cups, and three FIFA Club World Cups. Messi was runner-up at three Copa Américas and at the 2014 World Cup, before ultimately claiming his first gear major external trophy at the 2021 Copa América, where he was named best player. [ 60 ] [ 61 ] Ronaldo has won 34 major trophies [ 3 ] including seven league titles and five Champions Leagues, and guided Portugal to their first UEFA Euro 2016 and 2019 UEFA Nations League trophies. He has besides won four national cups, two league cups, seven national extremely cups, three european Super Cups, [ 62 ] [ 63 ] and four FIFA Club World Cups .
Player statistics
Club statistics
- As of 11 December 2021
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- Notes
- a b not including moment and third base class matches ( Barcelona B and C, 2003–05 ).
Read more: Wikipedia
- a b not including second division matches ( Sporting CP B, 2002–03 ) .
International statistics
- As of 16 November 2021
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Hat-tricks
- As of 12 October 2021
neck and neck
In past years, it had been said that the competition between Real Madrid and Barcelona has been “ encapsulated ” by the individual competition between Ronaldo and Messi, [ 68 ] [ 69 ] with there never being a scoreless El Clásico between the two. [ 70 ]
| Legend |
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tete-a-tete compendious
| Competition | Games played | Messi wins | Ronaldo wins | Draws | Messi goals | Ronaldo goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Liga | 18 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 9 |
| UEFA Champions League | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Copa del Rey | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| Supercopa de España | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| International friendly | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 36 | 16 | 11 | 9 | 22 | 21 |
Last updated 8 December 2020